Artists played key role in the evolution of Santa (Peter Baldaia)

The modern visual image of Santa Claus was "invented" by illustrator Thomas Nast in illustrations such as this from Harper's Weekly. (Submitted photo)

As Dec. 25 fast approaches, I’ve been thinking about the iconic image of Santa Claus, the quintessential secular symbol of Christmas. We are all familiar with this jovial, roly-poly figure of a bearded man in a red suit, but where did it originate and how did artists play a role in its evolution?

The Santa Claus we know today derives from the legend of Sinterklaas, a traditional holiday figure transplanted to New York by early Dutch settlers. The popular author Washington Irving gave Americans their first detailed information about this character, who was based on the early Christian St. Nicholas. In Irving’s fanciful work, “A History of New York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty,” he describes Sinterklaas as riding in a wagon “over the tops of trees” delivering “his yearly presents to children.” Irving was also the first to mention him having a sleigh, in this case pulled by a single reindeer.

Santa achieved a more recognizable form in 1823 in Clement Clarke Moore’s poem “A Visit From Saint Nicholas” (commonly known as “The Night Before Christmas"). The poem included such details as the character’s physical appearance, the night of his visit, and the names of his eight reindeer. According to legend, Irving composed the poem on a snowy winter’s day during a shopping trip on a sleigh. A local Dutch handyman as well as the historical St. Nick inspired his verses.

The modern visual image of Santa Claus was “invented” during the Civil War period by illustrator Thomas Nast (1840-1902), a talented caricaturist and editorial cartoonist. From childhood, he demonstrated a natural talent for drawing, and by the age of 15 was already working for Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper. Three years later, he was drawing for the influential American magazine Harper’s Weekly, where he worked on and off until 1886. Besides the image of Santa, Nast is also credited with originating the figure of Uncle Sam and the symbols of the American political parties, the Republican elephant and the Democratic donkey.

Peter Baldaia (The Huntsville Times/Glenn Baeske)

Nast’s first image of Santa appeared in a Christmas illustration produced for Harper’s Weekly in 1862. The inspiration for his version came from Moore’s poem. Because Nast couldn’t read or write, his wife had to read the poem to him while he prepared his initial drawings and engravings. Based on Moore’s descriptive imagery, Nast included Santa’s sleigh and reindeer, filled stockings hung by the chimney, and other recognizable elements. Nast also expanded upon the image of Santa. He was the first to establish that Santa’s home was at the North Pole, and that he had a workshop with elves to help him. Nast also conceived the idea that children should write letters to Santa, and that those who misbehaved would not receive gifts from him.

Over the next 20 years, Harper’s Weekly published 76 Christmas engravings by Nast that elaborated on the image of Santa, popularizing the figure to a worldwide audience. The impact of his drawings was enormous. Around the time of the Civil War, Christmas was a traditional celebration in some parts of the United States, although not yet a holiday. By the late 1800s, when Nast’s Santa Claus imagery gained its greatest popularity, Christmas Day was legally established as Dec. 25 in all states and territories. An extended school vacation for children also became a custom during this period.

In the early 20th century, Nast’s version of Santa Claus continued to be refined by other popular illustrators. By 1930, a standardized image of Santa as a life-sized figure in a red, fur-trimmed suit had emerged in the work of N. C. Wyeth, Norman Rockwell and J. C. Leyendecker. In 1931, Haddon Sundblom began 35 years of creating Coca-Cola Santa advertisements that popularized and firmly established Santa as an icon of contemporary commercial culture. In 1939, an advertising writer for the department store chain of Montgomery Ward Company invented Rudolph as the ninth reindeer, with his shiny red nose. By the 1950s, Santa was turning up everywhere as a friendly spokesman for an amazing range of consumer products.

From the seeds that Nast planted through his many illustrations, the benevolent image of Santa Claus took hold as a secular American symbol of gift giving, as Christmas took on an increasingly commercial aspect. Nast’s last two engravings were published in the Christmas issue of Harper’s Weekly in 1886. Without these drawings he brought to a wide American public, it’s hard to say what the popular customs of Christmas would be like today.

Peter Baldaia is director of curatorial affairs at the Huntsville Museum of Art. He was formerly curator of exhibitions and collections at the Rockford Art Museum in Illinois, and curator at the Fuller Museum of Art in Brockton, Mass. Baldaia holds a B.F.A. from Rhode Island College and a master’s degree in art history and museum studies from Boston University Graduate School. If you have questions or comments, please email Peter at pbaldaia@hsvmuseum.org.